Planting trees on NW 65th St in Ballard
Community members were dismayed when trees they had planted in 2010 were vandalized, but grateful when the trees were replaced one week later. On Thursday November 17, SDOT Urban Forestry staff teamed up with students from Ingraham High School to replace the trees, on NW 65th Street between 11th Ave NW and 12th Ave NW. The six replacement trees are serviceberries, small trees with white flowers in the spring. The original trees had been provided by the Department of Neighborhoods, and planted by community members, with support from St. Paul’s Church, but were destroyed by vandals in early November.
Since SDOT Urban Forestry was in the middle of fall planting, we were able to provide replacement trees, which will be maintained by SDOT. A member of the community group who originally planted the trees connected SDOT staff with a Seattle Public School teacher with a vocational skills class. The teacher, Leif Herald, offered to bring students to help replant the trees. While planting, many community members stopped to thank the students.
The trees are in front of St. Paul’s Church, and the pastor and administrators from the church were happy to see the new trees. One of the organizers of the original planting wrote: “Thank you SO MUCH for all your efforts and goodwill in replacing our vandalized trees. Our church is once again looking beautiful and inviting; there’s not a trace of the vandals’ work, and with those big sturdy stakes I expect these trees to stay put and stay healthy for decades.”
The Ballard News Tribune wrote an article about the project:
http://www.ballardnewstribune.com/2011/11/17/news/ingraham-high-school-students-plant-new-trees-alo